Amazon and Netflix are the top movie buyers out of Sundance so far

Streaming services Netflix and Amazon are the top buyers out of
Sundance so far.

Amazon has acquired four films and Netflix has purchased
three, halfway through the 11-day Sundance Film Festival that's
currently running. Most traditional distributors still haven't
picked up anything.

Sian Heder, the director of Netflix-acquired
"Tallulah," told the
New York Times, “You always want your film to be shown on a
big screen with perfect sound and the best projection, but that’s
not always the reality anymore. The way that people consume media
is changing.”

Some of the films purchased by the two companies will
actually end up getting theatrical runs, such as the
Amazon-purchased "Manchester by the Sea," starring Casey Affleck,
Kyle Chandler, and Michelle Williams, from
writer/director Kenneth Lonergan.

“For every movie that we do, we want as robust a
theatrical run as the film will support,” Roy Price, head
of Amazon Studios, told the Times.

That sentiment may come as a surprise to some, coming after
Netflix failed in an Oscar bid for its film "Beasts of No
Nation," which flopped in theaters with just $90,777 in box-office gross (it was released
for streaming at the same time). Amazon's "Chi-Raq," which opened
in theaters before arriving on the streaming platform, fared
better with $2.6 million.

Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his
personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.